It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true.
The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.
Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating -- which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve -- is just six, his lowest rating to date.
Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.
Ouch! And I ask, yet again, who did you think you were voting for? The warning signs were there, America! You just got swooped up by the Obama Mania!
I would take Bush back in two seconds over this racist, disingenuous, socialist prevaricator.
ReplyDeleteWhile having NO doubt his economic policies are a disaster for this country, IMO a foreign embarassment, terrorist attack, or some ethics issue, like whatever it is Tony Rezko is telling Fitzgerald lately, will bring him down before inflation and a crashed dollar suck him into the vortex.
It would be good if we GOPers had our leadership start to gel after the 2010 mid terms so the adults can take over again in 2012... if this montebank is still in office then.
First most of the change is that his disapprovals are mainly rising amongst Republicans. Hardly a surprise
ReplyDeleteIn his first year in office, a President's approval ratings typically decline by about 3 points from the time of his inauguration, while his disapproval ratings typically climb by about 12 points. That is fairly close to the magnitude of change that Barack Obama's numbers have experienced. True, he's lost that ground in 50 days rather than 365.
This is all completely predictable. Barack Obama didn't get elected with 60 or 65 percent of the vote -- he got elected with about 53 percent of the vote. As the warm and fuzzy feelings surrounding his inauguration wane and are replaced by an actual attempt to put forward a actual political agenda, it is not surprising that his approval ratings gravitate toward that anchor established during the election.
Most Americans support most parts of Obama's agenda -- particularly the ideas of moving toward more universal health care, applying both carrots and sticks in the effort to reduce carbon emissions, making the tax code more progressive, permitting stem cell research, withdrawing troops from Iraq, and stimulating the economy. But not all Americans do, and as Obama attempts to actuate that agenda, it's not surprising that some of them are beginning to make those feelings known.